Systems and methods of online communication and commerce based on publish/subscribe pattern

Abstract

Systems and methods of handling online communication and commerce via a publish/subscribe pattern are described. Publishers and subscribers can post event messages to broadcast or subscribe to subjects of interest. Each event message must contain four required dimensions, namely WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE. The system will match publishers' and subscribers' events by evaluating all four dimensions for matching conditions. When there are matches, the system will notify users (publishers and/or subscribers). If users respond to events notification, then the system will handle communication and/or commercial transactions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Systems and methods of online communication and commerce based on a publish/subscribe pattern comprising:
 Publishing/subscribing to subjects of interest based on event posting; matching events based on four required dimensions; notifying users when events match; handling users communication and/or commercial transactions based on their responses to events notification.   
     
     
         2 . A method of  claim 1  wherein event posting (publishing or subscribing) is based on the four required dimensions, namely WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE. 
     
     
         3 . A method of  claim 1  wherein querying of matching events require that all four conditions of matching are satisfied. 
     
     
         4 . A method of  claim 1  wherein users get notified when they have matched events. Users should be able to specify notification methods, whether it is their system inbox, email, text messaging, phone call or their social networks' status updates, etc. 
     
     
         5 . A method of  claim 1  wherein communication is handled when users respond to events notification by initiating a communication method. 
     
     
         6 . A method of  claim 1  wherein commercial transactions are handled when users respond to events notification with a purchase action. 
     
     
         7 . A method of  claim 2  that further comprises optional dimensions and attachments such as documents and/or media files. 
     
     
         8 . A method of  claim 2  where the WHO dimension is integrated with social groups of third party social networks or the system's own social network. 
     
     
         9 . A method of  claim 2  where the WHAT dimension further comprises additional information such as categories, tags, keywords, etc. to aid events matching query logic. 
     
     
         10 . A method of  claim 2  that further comprises extra UI controls and optional dimensions to aid data entry and event matching query logic. 
     
     
         11 . A method of  claim 2  that further comprises default settings in users' profile that can automate user entry behind the scene, thus simplifying the event posting procedure. 
     
     
         12 . A method of  claim 3  wherein the condition for matching the WHO dimension can be checked against third party social networks or the system's own social groups data. 
     
     
         13 . A method of  claim 3  wherein the condition for matching the WHAT dimension can be queried with full text search and additional helper attributes such as categories, tags, keywords, etc. 
     
     
         14 . A method of  claim 3  wherein the condition for matching the WHEN dimension is true if the time span of events overlap. 
     
     
         15 . A method of  claim 3  wherein the condition for matching the WHERE dimension is based on the distance within a geo-location point on the map.